This page will disseminate opinions on topics from music, to televison, to movies, to sports, to whatever may be of interest to me at that moment in time. These opinions will absolutely be short-sighted, ill-informed, reactionary, exaggerated, or just flat out wrong. But they will absolutely be my opinions.

6.7.13

53 Minutes of Madness: How The Golden State Warriors Landed Andre Iguodala And How He Makes Them Better




Between 12:06 and 12:59 PM yesterday, three pieces of news emerged that would turn the Golden State Warriors Dwight-centric off-season on its head. The first piece went like this…



The Warriors had made it clear they were trying to dump contracts the day before in an attempt to acquire Dwight Howard without a sign-and-trade, but that tactic seemed unlikely at best. Thirty-four million dollars would have to be dumped, and the Warriors would have to convince teams to take these contracts without weakening their core and becoming less attractive to Howard. Initial reports of the Warriors plan were filed under “wishful thinking”. Hearing about Philadelphia, Utah, and Cleveland getting involved changed things. All of a sudden there were real teams attached to this rumor as potentially willing partners in a mass salary dump. “Wishful thinking” all of a sudden turned into “cautiously optimistic”.



Forty-seven minutes later, the first real bomb dropped. The Warriors had traded Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, and an assortment of draft picks to the Utah Jazz. In one fell swoop, 24 million dollars had been lopped off the team’s payroll, and now the Warriors found themselves 12 million under the salary cap. Since 12 million was about 9 million short of what it would take nab Howard, another move had to be forthcoming and it could have been just about any move. Bogut could have been on his way out, or maybe a team out there had decided to take on 44 million dollars of David Lee. Perhaps Dwight had tipped off the Warriors that they were his team, and Golden State was now getting everything in order for a Dwight announcement. Fans were expecting anything.



Well, everything except that. Six minutes after creating twelve million in cap space, the Warriors turned around and gave it to Andre Iguodala, a fantastically skilled two-way player who the Warriors have coveted for years. A potential option that I shot down as essentially impossible just 3 days prior had in fact come to fruition. After years of longing from afar, Andre Iguodala was finally a Warrior. Where in the hell did that come from.

After that everything started to settle down. Howard called the Warriors to notify them he would not be coming, and soon after that, word got out that Dwight had chosen to sign with the Houston Rockets. Regardless, yesterday was a gigantic win for Golden State. They managed to move themselves from the luxury tax line to under the salary cap, giving them increased financial flexibility going forward, and managed to snag the third best free-agent in this years class, a player whose strengths address almost all of the Warriors needs, and whose one weakness is covered up by the rest of the squad.

Before addressing how he’ll fit with the Warriors, here’s the quick scouting report on Andre Iguodala: Except for shooting 3’s and – for just the last 2 years, strangely enough – shooting FT’s, Andre Iguodala does everything well. Seriously. Everything that can be done on a basketball court outside of shooting from 15 feet or farther, Iguodala is great at. He’s been an incredible defender since he came into the league,  having made the All-Defense team in 2010-2011, and according to some advanced statistics, Iguodala rated as the best perimeter defender in the NBA, and by a fairly healthy margin as well. He’s tough , strong, incredibly athletic, sports a pterodactyl like 6’11” wing span, and plays incredibly smart as well. He’s also a very solid rebounder for a perimeter player, averaging about 6 boards a game for his career.

Offensively, Iguodala is a very gifted playmaker. An above average ball handler who is very effective at getting into the paint and an elite finisher around the basket. He is also a great passer averaging 5.4 assists per game last year and is very comfortable initiating the offense and functioning essentially as a point forward. The one chink in his armor is his lack of a consistent shooting stroke. While he is passible from the wing-three as a 36% shooter, he is horrendous from the corners, shooting only about 20%, and for his career Andre is only a 32% shooter from deep. Also, while he was a good free-throw shooter for the first six years of his career, with a career-high 82% in his 3rd year, his touch from the stripe has eroded over the last three. After shooting 73% on free throws in 2009-2010, Iguodala dipped to 69% the next year, then 61% in 2011-2012, and cratered with a career worst 57% last season. It remains to be seen if this is a trend that would continue, as players suddenly forgetting how to shoot free-throws in their prime is a pretty rare occurance. Potential good news on that front, albeit in a very small sample size: Iguodala shot 72% from the free throw line in the playoffs, a rate consistent with his time in Philadelphia before the surprising decline.

With the Warriors, Iguodala, will be used as a swiss army knife, playing every position from PG to PF depending on the situation. Golden State has already said that replacing Jarrett Jack’s backup PG position is not a priority, as they plan to have Iguodala initiate the offense much of the time. This will allow all number of lineup combinations previously unavailable to them, as now “going small” with Steph Curry playing Shooting Guard is no longer small with Iguodala running point. Due to Andre’s size and strength, you could also see him as a PF in “small ball” lineups, similar to the way Harrison Barnes was used in the playoffs. Iguodala also allows the Warriors to go big and create matchup problems, with a lineup potentially consisting of Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, David Lee, and Andrew Bogut. An all-defensive lineup could be thrown out with Andre, Kent Bazemore, Thompson, Green, and Bogut to help salt away close games. However, the lineup that potentially could be the most effective is also the lineup that might be the most fun in the entire league. A potential line-up of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and Bogut is one that could absolutely wreak havoc on other teams and be gloriously fun to watch. While potentially being above average defensively at 4 positions, this group will be crazily athletic, while still having three elite three-point shooters on the floor, and Andrew Bogut patrolling the paint on both ends.

While a few people are concerned that Iguodala's addition means that either Barnes or Thompson will come off the bench next year and potentially stunt their growth, That won't be an issue at all. Iguodala's versatility allows him to play at almost any position alongside any player. Barnes will be able to play 30+ minutes a night, even off the bench, because while Barnes is at the 3 or 4, Iguodala can easily slide down to the 1 or 2. When Thompson is in the game, Iguodala can shift upward and play SF or PF while Klay is at SG. Andre's versatility, as well as Klay's and Barnes' own ability to play multiple positions, will make getting each guy sufficient minutes a walk in the park. Barnes, who is the most likely to be relegated to sixth man, may not start like he did last year, but very well might get more minutes and shots due to this new roster alignment. Not a bad trade-off.

While winning is the ultimate goal, winning while playing fun basketball is the dream scenario. By adding Andre Iguodala, the Warriors greatly increased their chances of winning, and insured that just about every line-up permutation they put out will be astoundingly fun to watch. Buckle-up Warriors fans, 2014 is going to be an incredible ride.

You can follow Andy on twitter at @AMOhoop34
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1 comment:

YouTired said...

Excellent write-up! I've heard some criticism that the Warriors paid too much for a 3's-and-D player but that doesn't adequately describe Iggy's abilities at all.

4:04 PM

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